The Beginning of a Journey
by malfoyforever
Summary: Epilogue from Albus Potter's perspective. Chapter two, mostly, of 'The Penetrator of Darkness'."What if I'm in Slytherin?" whispered Al, for his father's ears alone. COMPLETE, ONESHOT.


The Beginning of a Journey

"Two years," sniffed Lily, "I want to go _now_!"

Al rolled his eyes. He was about to nudge her and call her a sissy again but James was back, smirking at him. He scowled and growled, rebuking a string of curses that could have gotten his mouth Scourgified, and said, "I _won't_! I _won't_ be in Slytherin!"

James was such a bother! Though contrarily to the usual, what his brother stated was right. He _was_ dead afraid of ending up in Slytherin.

"James, give it a rest!" Ginny demanded, giving her elder son a glare.

"I only said he _might_ be," said James, grinning at Al, "There's nothing wrong with that. He _might _be in Slyth-"

But James caught his mother's eye (_Ha_, the Prewett glare, thought Al) and fell silent. The Potters approached the barrier. With a slightly cocky look over his shoulder at Al (the boy scowled), James took the trolley from his mother and broke into a run. A moment later, he had vanished.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" Al asked his parents immediately, grateful for James's absence. He would never hear the end of this if James got wind of this, the prat.

"Every day, if you want us to," said Ginny.

Al reddened slightly. He did _not_ want to be called a baby! "Not _every_ day," Al said quickly, "James says most people only get letters from home once a month."

"We wrote to James three times a week last year," said Ginny, smiling.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Harry put in. "He likes a laugh, your brother."

_I am going to punch that git... And I hope Rose doesn't hear that. She would tell James right away, and _they_ tend to band together. _

Side by side, they pushed the second trolley forward, gathering speed. As they reached the barrier, Al winced, but no collision came. Instead, the family emerged on to platform nine and three-quarters, which was obscured by thick, white steam that was pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express.

"Where are they?" asked Al, peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform.

"We'll find them," said Ginny, ruffling his messy black hair.

But the vapour was dense, and it was difficult to make out individual faces.

"I think that's them, Al," said his mother suddenly.

A group of four people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces only came into focus when Harry, Ginny, Lily, and Al had drawn right up to them.

"Hi," said Al, sounding relieved, something he would have never done on a normal day. But, he thought as he breathed in deeply in excitement and apprehension, September first was _not_ a normal day.

Rose, who was already wearing her Hogwarts robes, beamed at him (though it resembled a well-disguised smirk). He was proven right when she leaned in and whispered, "Doing well, dolt?"

"Shut it," he hissed back.

"Parked all right, then?" Ron asked Harry. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner."

Hermione gave him a scathing look. "No, I didn't. I had complete faith in you."

"So, from what I heard from James," Rose said to Al, "You're scared sick of going to Slytherin, that true?"

Al scowled at her.

"It's true," she decided with a smirk (trust Rose to turn any nervous situation into a bickering). "Coward!"

"Am not!"

"Blimey, it's_ obvious_," Rose shook her head and sighed. Hermione gave her daughter a look.

"Rose, don't pester your cousin."

"Mum, I believe that is not called _pestering_-"

"_Rose Ixora Weasley_," warned Hermione.

Rose gave her a bored look and shrugged. Al and she turned to Lily and Hugo's discussions on which House they would be once they finally attended Hogwarts.

"You know, I told you, Lily, I want to be in Ravenclaw," said Hugo, and opened the book he had been carrying.

"Yeah, I know," Lily said, "I think I want to be in Gryffindor. It'd be cool, right?"

"Mm-hmm," murmured Hugo.

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," said Ron, "but no pressure."

"_Ron_!"

Lily and Hugo laughed, but Al frowned and Rose said under her breath, "That's very _nice_, Dad. Gee, _wicked_ parenting there."

"He doesn't mean it," said the cousins' mothers, but Ron was no longer paying attention. Catching Harry's eye, he nodded covertly to some point some fifty yards away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist.

"Look who it is."

A tall man with platinum blonde hair and pointed features was standing there, with whom Al assumed was his wife and son. His son resembled his father very much, as much as Al resembled Harry, but his hair was darker and his eyes kinder. He caught sight of the four adults staring, nodded curtly, and turned away again.

"Bet he's embarrassed," muttered Harry, "for what happened during the rebellion."

"So that's little Scorpius," said Ron under his breath. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

Rose smiled at her father sweetly. Al rolled his eyes.

_Yeah, Aunt Hermione's brains and uses them for scheming and plotting revenge... _

"Ron, for goodness's sake!" said Hermione. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

_I seriously doubt it. Rose is looking pretty interestingly at that Scorpion kid, like those wizards in the teenage magazines Dominique has... _

"You're right, sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, "don't get _too_ friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pure-blood."

_Humph. Fat chance, Uncle Ron, but Rose looks like she's considering how to snog him... _

"Hey!"

Al scowled; that was James's voice.

"Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing vaguely over his shoulder, "Just seen him! And guess what's he doing? _Snogging_ Victoire!"

Both cousins rolled their eyes at him.

"_Our_ Teddy! _Teddy Lupin_! Snogging _our_ Victoire! _Our_ cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing-"

"You interrupted him?" said Ginny, shaking her head. "You are _so_ like Ron-"

"- and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's _snogging_ her!"

"There are worst things, Jamesie," muttered Rose, smirking. Al nodded in agreement.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily. "Teddy would _really_ be part of the family then!"

Al patted her shoulder. _Dream on, sis. Though it is highly probable. _

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry, smiling down at her. "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have it done with?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al – Teddy could have my room!"

_Mate, you're deluding yourself. You put a snake under my bed last summer when we went camping! D'you think I'm that incompetent? _

"No," said Harry firmly, "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."

He checked his battered watch.

"It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."

_Finally! Cheers, Dad! _

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny told James as she hugged him.

"Mum! I can't give a Professor _love_!"

"But you _know_ Neville-"

James rolled his eyes. Al couldn't have agreed with him better.

"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him _love_..."

"Technically, you _can_," Rose told Al, "but it would seriously harm your social status."

Shaking his head at Ginny's foolishness, he aimed a kick at Al. Al kicked him back, wishing he knew some good hexes.

"See you later, Al. Watch out for the Thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible? _You said they were invisible_?"

"Only if you hadn't seen death," murmured Rose. "Jamesie needs to pick up a book once in a while, that one."

James leapt onto the train and Al saw him embrace Aaron and Thomas, the Gryffindor twins, and the three of them set off to find Rick Abbott and Valerie Longbottom.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Al. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to the school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

_At least they won't eat me. Well, boats can drown you... And I heard there's an octopus or calamari or squid... Something like that. _

Ginny kissed Al goodbye.

"See you at Christmas."

"Bye, Al," said Harry, as Al hugged him. He felt like a little boy again. He didn't want to go, suddenly. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone 'til you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

Al inhaled his father's scent and nodded, but he had one last thing on his mind.

"What if I'm in Slytherin?"

The whisper was for his father alone, and Harry nodded as if he understood and crouched down to Al's level.

"Albus Severus," Harry said quietly, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

_Really? _

"But _just say_-"

"-then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choices in account."

"Really?"

"It did for me," said Harry.

Al frowned at him, but nodded.

_Not too sure 'bout that, but I trust you, Dad. _

He stepped onto the train, Rose waiting impatiently for him. She punched his shoulder.

"Crying over Daddy?" she smirked.

Al scowled at her. "Why are they all _staring_?" He had turned and saw many students staring at him and Rose.

"Don't let it worry you. It's me. I'm extremely famous," said Ron.

"Dad, lying is _bad_," muttered Rose, smiling slightly and chuckling. She turned to Al. "We'll have to check you for amnesia. Looks like you forgot you were related to Harry Potter."

"Ha ha, _very funny_."

But Al followed her, looking for a compartment, until they found one that was practically empty, where a blonde boy was staring out of the window and doodling on a piece of parchment paper.

He looked up.

"Hello, I'm Scorpius," he called in a quiet voice. "Who're you?"

And that marked the beginning of a long friendship.


End file.
